Concealed door latch



7 Oct. 17, 1967 D. e. HANN CONCEALED DOOR LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJune 14, 1965 I N V EN TOR. DAM/E2 GPAF/OA/ f/44/A/ Get. 17, 1967 D. G.HANN CONCEALED DOOR LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 14, 1965 IN VENTOR.

0/4/1042 GPA/ 70 //4/\/A/ United States Patent 3,347,581 CONCEALED DOORLATCH Daniel G. Harm, Lake City, Pa., assignor to General-ErieCorporation Filed June 14, 1965, Ser. No. 463,691 Claims. (Cl. 292-147)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates generally to latchesfor doors and is particularly concerned with a latch which is concealedwithin a metal door and is operable from only one side of the door.

Background of the invention Latches of the sliding bolt or bar type arecommonly mounted entirely on one side of a door but they are unsightly,have projections on which clothing may catch and Efforts have been madeto provide latches which avoid those disadvantages by positioning thesliding bolt or bar within a door but such devices have not beenentirely satisfactory for various reasons including the expense ofmounting and dismounting them for adjustment or repair and thesusceptibility of such latches to being tampered with from the outsideof the door.

Summary The present invention aims to provide a sliding bar latch whichcan be readily and inexpensively mounted within a metal door, is notunsightly, does not have 0bjectionable protruding parts, is readilymounted or dismounted and is substantially tamper proof.

Brief description of the drawings The present invention will be betterunderstood by those skilled in the art from the following specificationand the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view on a reduced scale of a metal door equippedwith a preferred form of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the door and of FIG. 1 withthe latch bar in latching position;

FIG. 3 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view of the latch of FIG. 1in position in the door;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of the latch ofFIGS. 1 to 3;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a modified form of theapparatus embodying the present invention; and,

FIG. 6 is a transverse, sectional view, similar to FIG. 3, but showingthe latch and door of FIG. 5.

Description of the preferred embodiments In the embodiment of thepresent invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the sheet metal sides of thedoor are indicated at 1. These sides have opposed indentations 3, andtransverse openings 5 through the middle of these indentations.

A latch body 7 (see also FIG. 4) consisting of two similar parts ispositioned within the door. The remote sides of the latch body parts areprovided with depressions 9 which receive the indentations 3 of thesheet metal sides 1. The opposed faces of the latch body parts areprovided with dowel pins 11 and dowel pin holes 11a by means of whichthe parts of the latch body are maintained in predetermined position.The opposed faces of the latch body parts are cut away to providerectangular spaces indicated at 13 which extend to the edge of the door,and an elongated hole 15 which extends transversely therethrough and isaligned with the openings 5 in depressions 3. An elongated latch bar 17,FIG. 4, is slidably mounted in space 13 and 3,347,581 Patented Oct. 17,1967 may be moved to project beyond the edge of the door to engage astriker plate and thus latch the door. The latch bar may be urgedagainst one side of space 13, as by resilient, means, for example a leafspring 19 which engages the body and the bar. The latch bar has anaperture 21 extending therethrough and aligned with hole 15.

The means for moving the latch bar endwise comprises plates 23 and 25which have marginal portions movably disposed in the indentations 3 inthe sides of the door. Plate 23 has a hollow projection 27 which extendsinto and substantially fills aperture 21 in the latch bar, and has anactuating handle 29 projecting in the opposite direction. Plate 25 has aprojection 31 extending into the hollow projection 27 of plate 23. Meansis provided for locking the plates in assembled position with suflicientclearance between 25 and 1 so as not to scratch the door face, as seenin FIG. 3. Any suitable means may be used for this purpose but one suchmeans is the external tooth lock Washer 33 which is fixed to the end ofprojection 31 and has teeth which engage the inner surface of projection27. Since the hole 15 in the latch body is larger than projection 27,plates 23 and 25 and bar 17 may be moved relative to the latch body andthus the bar may be moved into and out of door latched position.

In the modification shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the door is shown as havingseveral parts like those shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 including the sheetmetal sides 1, the two-part latch body 7 with its space 13 for the latchbar and a hole 15 extending through the body for a latch bar actuator.In this modification one plate 35 has an exposed actuating handle 37 anda projection 39 extending through the latch bar 41. The second plate 45is in the form of a fiat washer which engages the outer surface of theadjacent latch body 7, a spring washer 47 bearing against washer 45 anda screw 49 which extends through plate 45 and Washer 47 and intoprojection 39 of plate 35, thereby serving to hold the plates inassembled position with the door and with the latch bar. An escutcheonplate 51 encloses depression 3 on the outer side of the door, hasmarginal ribs seating on the sheet in the depression and is retained inplace by spring clips such as is shown at 53. This plate may be providedwith a slot 54 which can then be used in an emergency to unlock the doorfrom the outside. A pin may be inserted in slot 54 into engagement withthe head of screw 49 and then moved laterally to cause the bar 41 to beretracted from contact with a striker plate.

Having thus described this invention in such full, clear, concise andexact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art, to which itpertains to make and use the same, and having set forth the best modecontemplated of carrying out this invention, I state that the subjectmatter which I regard as being my invention is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in what is claimed, it being understood thatequivalents or modifications of, or substitutions for, parts of theabove specifically described embodiment of the invention may be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in whatis claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A latch for a door comprising:

(a) a two-part latch body to be fixed in position between the sides of adoor and having depressions in its remote sides to receive indentationsof the sheet metal sides of the door, said body parts being connectedtogether against relative parallel movement, the body parts having aspace therebetween for a latch bar and holes extending therethrough fora latch bar actuator,

(b) a latch bar slidably movable endwise in said space and having anaperture aligned with said holes,

(c) means for moving said latch bar endwise into and out of door lockingpositions, said means including plates disposed in and engaging saidindentations in 3 4 the metal sides-of the door, one of said plateshaving 5. The combination of elements set forth in claim 4 a hollowprojection extending into and substantially in which said cover isprovided with a slot for use in slidfilling the aperture in said latchbar, one of said ing the latch bar into unlocked position for emergencyplates having an outwardly projecting bar actuating unlocking of thedoor. handle, and 5 i (d) means in said hollow projection to lock saidplates Reffl'emes Cited n assembled p9 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2. Thecombination of elements set forth in cla1m 1 1,830,415 11/1931Wittanberg 292 76 1n WhICh resilient means is disposed in said space Insaid body and engaging said latch bar and urg ng it against the 10/1949Friend 292*337 body r 10 2,876,873 3/1959 Benham 292-337 X 3. Thecombination of elements set forth in claim 1 in 3O95225 6/1963 Domslc eta1 292169 which one of said plates has a projection extending intoFOREIGN PATENTS Said hollow pwiection- 850,474 9/1952 Germany.

4. The combination of elements set forth in claim 1 15 in which a coveris seated in and closes one of said inden- MARVIN A. CHAMPION, PrimaryExaminer. tations and includes spring means engageable with the adjacentsheet metal side of the door to retain the cover BOBBY Examiner inplace. J. R. MOSES,,Assistant Examiner.

1. A LATCH FOR A DOOR COMPRISING: (A) A TWO-PART LATCH BODY TO BE FIXEDIN POSITION BETWEEN THE SIDES OF A DOOR AND HAVING DEPRESSIONS IN ITSREMOTE SIDES TO RECEIVE INDENTATIONS OF THE SHEET METAL SIDES OF THEDOOR, SAID BODY PARTS BEING CONNECTED TOGETHER AGAINST RELATIVE PARALLELMOVEMENT, THE BODY PARTS HAVING A SPACE THEREBETWEEN FOR A LATCH BAR ANDHOLES EXTENDING THERETHROUGH FOR A LATCH BAR ACTUATOR, (B) A LATCH BARSLIDABLY MOVABLE ENDWISE IN SAID SPACE AND HAVING AN APERTURE ALIGNEDWITH SAID HOLES, (C) MEANS FOR MOVING SAID LATCH BAR ENDWISE INTO ANDOUT OF DOOR LOCKING POSITIONS, SAID MEANS INCLUDING PLATES DISPOSED INAND ENGAGING SAID INDENTATIONS IN THE METAL SIDES OF THE DOOR, ONE OFSAID PLATES HAVING A HOLLOW PROJECTION EXTENDING INTO AND SUBSTANTIALLYFILLING THE APERTURE IN SAID LATCH BAR, ONE OF SAID PLATES HAVING ANOUTWARDLY PROJECTING BAR ACTUATING HANDLE, AND (D) MEANS IN SAID HOLLOWPROJECTION TO LOOK SAID PLATES IN ASSEMBLED POSITION.